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Thursday, 8 December 2016

Trends for the New Year?

Goth Fashion in 2017

As the Soft Grunge movement fizzles out, the 70's Boho girl takes a much needed break, and black and white prints hit their plateau, what can we expect to see in the near future of our Alt and Goth scenes? Rather than intuit what could happen this year, I'd like to state what I'd like to see happen.

We have seen a lot of prints, we have seen a lot of chiffon, bondage, maxi dresses and Pastel Goth stuff, and after awhile it gets old. I decided to visit Attitude Clothing's website recently to skim over their catalog - and I should note, they used to host a separate site called "Extreme Attitude" for Goths but have amalgamated it all into one website, so any of my former links to them are probably dead. As far as clothing goes, it's much of the same. I have literally seen the same dress just in various printed fabrics. Can you imagine going to a party where every girl is wearing a Wednesday Addams dress but one is in tartan, one has skulls, one maybe has bats or coffins? Would you feel a bit bored by that? I know I would. I think we need to see more range this year.

You know what I'd like to see? Black denim. Texture. Fabrics that have structure to them. Modesty - freaking hell give us some damn modesty! We literally went full swing into baring it all, right down to the g-string knickers, and I think in order to recover from that it should go to the complete opposite. I would love to see something tasteful, modest and professional. More Corp Goth friendly outfits. I think that's what gets me, if you're a Corp Goth, you of all people must agree with how difficult it is to dress yourself with today's fashions. You're not allowed to show up to the office in a bralette. Likewise chiffon shows just a wee bit more than your boss would like to see. You know you can't get away with the prints because they're too bold and "out there". The exposed midriff is a bit...much. If anything, Corp Goths have been getting the short end of the stick during the entire Nu Goth/Soft Grunge fad. And I'm a bit biased, a lot of this stems from my feminist viewpoint, but I feel like a lot of young women are dressing like slobs anymore.

I don't mind a bit of cleavage in the right setting, but parading around in your fucking underwear is utter nonsense.

Perhaps I'm drawn to more modest and professional clothing because I'm aging. I'm getting older and I need to bare in mind that I can't get away with crop tops for much longer. That being said, however, we're in need of a cultural shift. We've gone through this mess with young women combating the male gaze by defiantly wearing whatever the hell they want (and I don't agree with this whole "objectification" thing, because many women are denying men their right to their sexuality. Boobs are hot, okay, guys will look at them and should not be made to feel ashamed for it. Fuck, I LOOK AT THEM). We've gone too far into this sexual liberation shit that it's become more like a spectacle. Girls are upholding Miley Cyrus as a pioneer for their sexuality when they should in fact be taking a good long look at Dita Von Teese - aside from her burlesque work, when she's not pouring champagne over her ass she is a well dressed, sexy and powerful woman (I prefer her as a blonde, but you get the point). That's how you fucking dress! I mean, people are reclaiming the word "slut" like it's a good thing. It isn't. There is a huge difference between being sexually empowered and being a whore.

Please, let's show the world what real sexy is.

When I look to the high fashion couture designers I'm seeing a lot of Elizabethan/Renaissance inspired clothing. We are seeing the return of puff, cap sleeves, court necklines, empire waistlines (babydolls), and some things with a cultural Scandinavian flavor to them. There are mandarin collars everywhere. There's no shortage of lace, even in the high fashion scene they just rehash shit all the time. Fendi's 2016 Couture collection is channeling my needs for texture, albeit in ugly manifestations lol. Fur, sculptural ornamentation, I need that shit this year! Silhouettes are leaning towards a-line, straight and slender with higher collars or long sleeves. There's some 70's revival still occurring, particularly in Elie Saab collections. While I often reject the mainstream fashions, especially those of fashion house designers, I can't help but acknowledge that they greatly influence Goth and Alt ready to wear trends. It's how all fashion works. Some Parisian asshole designer thinks AstroTurf would make a good jacket and suddenly we find it the next month in Forever21.

It'll be interesting to see if the big sleeves and high collars catch on, perhaps in a more watered down form.

4 comments:

Haha 2017 trend predictions are going to be my next post. Except for harnesses and occult stuff, I thought nu goth was pretty work friendly. Way friendlier than historical wear or the other styles. Leggings with batwing sleeved dresses were my go-to for the longest time, until i was wearing crop tops with high waisted corporate skirts... It's pretty modest when it lines up well.

The jersey knit stuff was definitely more work friendly. We saw a few things like that in Killstar's early days, before they rode that awkward witch trend (I can't see their pentagram dresses going over well at work lol). A few pieces from their new collection might squeak by in the right setting. I actually really like the idea of of a crop with high waisted pencil skirt, but it's unlikely to gain much acceptance in most office settings. I've heard of some places getting uncomfortable with things like cap sleeves or v-necks. I think this is why I'm happy to see businesses run by Gen X-er's. They're so much more relaxed with their work attitude. I guess every business will have it's limitations. I recall working for a Muslim man who was very, very strict about how I looked. A lot of it was his personal beliefs leaking into the workplace but I didn't challenge it because he was the franchise owner and I didn't see the point.

Health is steadily improving! :) Everything is recycled. The collections I was referencing are channeling the folk movement of the 70's and the Baroque revival during the New Romantic era of the 80's! We come full cycle. ;)

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